Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant / Research Associate and Doctoral Student at the Chair of Political Communication

The University of Passau enjoys high visibility and a strong reputation thanks to its excellent research, innovative teaching and extensive international network. Around 11,000 students from 100 countries and over 1,300 staff study and work near Passau’s Old Town on a campus that combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning urban design. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich cultural heritage and Lower Bavarian traditions, lend the city and region a special appeal and contribute to an outstanding

• Highly autonomous participation in the EU-funded project POLINOCULATE (title: Inoculating and coaching policy-makers to resist disinformation) involving seven European project partners
• Goal-oriented and self-directed doctoral research in the thematic area of the sub-project led by the chair: «Understanding opposition against policies that counter misinformation»
• Drafting of sole-authored and co-authored publications in the thematic area of the sub-project
• Preparation and partial conduct of 30 to 40 semi-structured interviews with European stakeholders engaged in combating misinformation
• Conducting LLM-supported, automated content analyses examining the communication of actors opposing efforts to combat misinformation (e.g. right-wing parties)
• Collaboration in and support for other sub-projects
• Willingness to assist with the chair’s administration and to undertake teaching of up to two hours per week (during the semester teaching periods)
• Participation in the administration and organisation of the EU project, e.g. organising workshops and conferences
• Presentation of research findings at national and international conferences
• Preparation of academic publications

• A university Master’s degree in communication studies or a related discipline
• Expertise in computational methods, ideally with a focus on automated content analysis techniques
• Strong academic writing skills in the social sciences
• An open and communicative personality as well as a willingness to conduct semi-structured expert interviews with a wide range of stakeholders
• Excellent command of English
• Good knowledge of German and/or an Eastern European language is an advantage
• Experience working in research groups is an advantage
• Strong teamwork skills

• An exciting and challenging research position with a wide range of opportunities to put your own ideas into practice
• Ideal conditions for pursuing a doctoral degree in the above-mentioned research area
• An inspiring environment within a research group striving to conduct internationally recognised research in the field of your doctoral project
• Generous financial support for conference travel and other professional development activities
• A high degree of freedom in organising your work processes
• A pleasant working atmosphere in a city with a high quality of life, on a modern university campus just a few minutes‘ walk from the historic city centre